Carrying Their Collection

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/270, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Two from Saturday

Ok, these pictures are not from today but I could not post them on Saturday since they did not fit in so decided to post them now. Both are taken with the Ricoh GR lens at f2.8.

GXR A16 24-85 Pre-Announcement

Today, Ricoh has pre-announced their latest GXR camera unit as mentioned in my HK meetup post.
It's the new APS zoom module and while not all details have been made public I got some details from Ricoh regarding the module.

As you can see in the above image it will feature a 16 MP sensor, have a 24-85mm zoom and the lens will not be GR labelled. Further it should be relatively big as it will not collapse like the Olympus m4/3 kit zooms for example.

The release was planned for the end of this year but the flooding in Thailand caused delays sensor production so it has been pushed back slightly.

UPDATE: I have made some changes to the post as I am awaiting further information from Ricoh on a few points.

UPDATE 2: No further information, other than the display at PMA & CES 2012 was for the press only. I would expect the module to be announced and released in the next month (maybe at C+ in Japan) but have no further confirmation yet.

UPDATE 3: I have received more information from Ricoh and will prepare a special post for this.

UPDATE 4: The official announcement is out and available here.

First Ricoh HK Meetup

Today, was the first Ricoh meetup in Hong Kong so let me start by saying thanks to Nevin and Laikok for organising this meetup.
There were only 20 seats available but over 100 applications for this meetup.

Unlike the last London meetup we had a wider variety of Ricoh cameras with the GRD cameras being the most prominent, followed by the GXR with M mount and then some GX200 and CX cameras.

There was a relaxed atmosphere and some games and speeches held by some of the local bloggers, including Nevin.
Since my Cantonese is none existent I could not follow all of it but it was great to talk to some of the people attending.

As a treat for the people joining this meetup Ricoh released some information about the upcoming GXR zoom module.
The official announcement will be on Monday so you have to wait till then for all the details but you can get a very good idea what to expect from reading my last London meetup report.

With this my holiday is over and tomorrow will be my flight back to London.

Tablet Photography

I understand taking pictures with your phone but I will never understand how people think it's a good idea to hold a massive 10" tablet in front of your face to take pictures with. What's even more puzzling is that cameras found in tablets are really poor compared to even the cheapest phones. It is fun to see though as it looks pretty silly.

More from the Mong Kok Markets

Walking around the markets in Mong Kok is a great way to spend the day and something everyone coming to Hong Kong should do.

Visit to Tai O

I took the ferry to Mui Wo and then the bus to Tai O where I spent most of the day wandering around and taking pictures. In the end I did not take all that many pictures but enjoyed the walk.

People in Mong Kok

Just a few pictures from my walk around Mong Kok this morning, I wanted to have a theme so kept it to only these pictures for today.
Afterwards I went to the Walled City park and walked up to the Peak in the evening which was a bad idea (note to myself, next time walk down rather than up).

As a special I have a bonus picture of the Ginger Man.

I took pictures of him last time I've been here in 2008 (see one here) and was really happy to see him again. He either recognized me or always has a smile for people taking pictures of him but whatever the reason I hope to see him again next time I come to Hong Kong.

If you are in Hong Kong and wander around the markets in Mong Kok, keep an eye out for the Ginger Man.

Hong Kong Bay Cruise

Arrived in Hong Kong today.It's great to be back here but I kind of miss Vietnam already.

Goodbye Vietnam

It has been a great two weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia but tomorrow morning it will be time to leave and move on to Hong Kong for another few days.
I will miss Vietnam, the people here are fantastic and I like the country so will surely be back soon. There is also a lot more to see and it would be nice to have more time in some places rather than having to rush.

Ha Long

Another set from Halong Bay, I got up early to catch the sunrise.
In the afternoon we'll return to Hanoi so the cruise will come to an end. Hanlong Bay is amazing and more than worth the trip there.

On another note, in one week we'll have a Ricoh meetup in Hong Kong so if you are around have a look here for more details: Ricoh HK Meetup
Thanks to Laikok and Nevin for helping me organize this.

I am planning to organize more Ricoh meetups when I travel so more people from around the world have the chance to join and not only people from London.

Day in Halong Bay

Seeing Halong bay for the first time is impressive and gives a nice contrast to the busy citylife and old temples we've seen recently.
Sailing through the bay and past the islands and floating cities is a fantastic experience.

Having dust on the sensor unfortunately was not so fantastic but after an operation in the evening I managed to remove the dust almost completely so the next day's pictures should not suffer from the black blob as much as these.

Hanoi Life

Back in Hanoi and after all the building and landscape pictures, I wanted to focus only on people today.
This is a series I took during a relaxed stroll around Hanoi, there was nothing planned for this day so it was a good opportunity to just wander and explore.

Angkor - Day 3

The last day in Siem Reap and Angkor, there is still a lot to see and do here but it's time to continue our journey.
This day was all about the sunrise and sunset rituals performed every day by thousands of tourists (I will need to post a picture to showcase this at some point) while visiting Angkor Wat.

We starte it off like everyone else by watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat before sending more time around there since it was very quiet after the sunrise when everyone left. We headed to see a few other temples before going back to the Bayon temple to spend more time there.
The last part of the day was to watch the sunset but we decided on a lesser visited place rather than the main tourist hangout.

In case you wondered why I never showed any people in my Angkor series, this is done on purpose but I will post a series with people later on.

Angkor - Day 2

We spent the day seeing some of the places a bit further out and started the day with a hike to see the carvings on the waterfall.